#Interview with Heidi McCahan, author of Sweet Melody #SweetMelTour

Welcome to this stop on the tour for Sweet Melody by Heidi McCahan! I loved this book, and actually reviewed it over at Uplifting Reads. But Heidi also took some time to answer a few questions for us. Please enjoy and then be sure to enter the great giveaway at the end!

When a struggling bakery owner meets a wannabe songwriter they discover they can make sweet harmony if they can only learn to work together.

What was the inspiration behind this story?

My family and I visited Seabrook for the first time about 10 years ago and I was instantly smitten. I thought it was an ideal setting for a novel or possibly several novels. When I started writing the first draft of Sweet Melody in 2015 and 2016, there weren’t many sweet romances featuring a songwriter and a food truck, so I decided to write one.

If you could be a character any of your books, whom would you choose and why?

The hero in Unraveled, the first novel I wrote and published, will probably always be my favorite character. His name is Blake Tully. He is flawed yet generous, made mistakes yet loves his family. He is loyal, almost to a fault, and enjoys his quiet life in small-town Alaska. He will always be my favorite fictional character I’ve created. (Shhh! Please don’t tell the others).

A lot of romances these days include food, as in a character owns a bakery or the like. What is it about this that makes these romances so appealing to readers?

My editor asked me to answer this question because she wanted me to show readers why Lindsay, the heroine in Sweet Melody, cared so much about her bakery and her motivation for launching a food truck. In my opinion, the kind of food one finds at a bakery, especially during a trip or a vacation, provokes happy thoughts and positive emotions. What’s not to love about a cake pop or a cupcake? Readers want to feel good and reading about yummy food recreates positive experiences and memories that also make the reading experience even more enjoyable.

This story takes place in the Pacific Northwest. What are some of your favorite places out there?

Seabrook is my favorite place in the Pacific Northwest, which is why it is the setting for Sweet Melody. I really like Portland, Oregon and certain parts of Seattle, Washington. Anything along the coast of Washington and Oregon is spectacular. The mountains, the water, the trees, the waterfalls…there’s so much to appreciate. I highly recommend a visit to the great Northwest.

What’s coming up next for you in terms of projects that we should keep watch for?

I have another manuscript written that’s also set at Seabrook. I’d like to revise, polish and hopefully release it in 2020. I started writing the 3rd book in my Emerald Cove series set in Alaska and I’m not sure when that will be finished. It’s a challenging story to tell. There are also two manuscripts out for consideration with publishing houses and I just submitted an idea for my third Harlequin Love Inspired novel, so hopefully you’ll be hearing a lot from me in the coming months and years.

Sweet Melody(Seabrook Romance #1)By Heidi McCahan
Christian Contemporary Romance
Paperback & ebook, 242 Pages
August 1st 2019When a struggling bakery owner is rescued by a wannabe songwriter with hidden culinary talents, they discover they can make sweet harmony … if they can only learn to work together.

Rhett Foster longs to change the world with his music, yet he can’t even finish writing one song. Battered by a string of failures and disillusioned, he returns home to Portland, Oregon. While he desperately wants to create a chart-topping hit, his dad mandates a new mission: move to coastal vacation hotspot Seabrook, Washington and expand the family’s successful restaurant chain.

In danger of destroying her late parents’ legacy if she doesn’t diversify her menu, Lindsay Carmichael will try anything to save her bakery. But with a tiny budget and an injured employee who can’t work, she has no choice but to sink the last of her savings into buying a dilapidated food truck and hiring Rhett as a part-time barista. What she doesn’t know is that the handsome songwriter has a secret … one that could destroy her business and her heart.

Heidi secretly dreamed of writing a book for most of her childhood, but a particularly painful rejection letter in middle school convinced her to tuck that dream away. Instead, she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Sports Medicine from Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington and a Master’s Degree in Athletic Training from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. After a brief career as a Certified Athletic Trainer, Heidi married her husband Steve, then she dusted off her big dream of becoming a published author and launched her first contemporary romance into the world in 2014. A huge fan of coffee, dark chocolate, and happily ever after, Heidi currently lives in North Carolina with Steve, three active boys and one amazing Goldendoodle.

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About Me

andi

Andi's other nickname is Candrel, though some also still call her Pearl because of her undying love for Pearl Jam.She is a Montessori kid who became a Montessori educator and never stops learning. You can find her all over the place learning new crafts, reading, writing, playing outside, and sampling all kinds of new foods and beverages. That is, when she's not stalking her favorite local and national musical acts. Oh yeah, don't forget to keep her stocked in copious amounts of coffee. It is necessary to fuel her.